What does a mustang mean to you? Do they even matter? TO most people the mustang is a symbol of the Wild West. Roaming the land, living wild and free. A mustang is a mongrel mixed breed that hasn’t been living off the land for many generations.
In 1971 the wild free roaming horse and burro act came into place to protect the feral horses and burros from branding, capture, and death. They are protected by an act of congress. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) uses helicopter to move these animals off public lands. Most of the people see this as a brutal inhumane thing to do to these horses. These horses are super reactive so when something that they may have never heard or seen scares them and so they freak out.
When these wild animals are round up they are shipped off to holding pens, slaughter houses. The BLM has nearly 45,000 horses and burros in holding facilities. Nearly 67,000 horses and burros roam free. These 67,000 horses live on range land that should only be supporting 27,000 wild horses and burros.
Do you think these wild horses and burros have a right? My personal opinion is no, does any horse in the world have a right? No I mean unless they are $200,000 and can run a 15 second barrel pattern. Someone that is in the equine world needs to step up and help these horses out. We are letting Peta tree hugging people protest and turn everybody again what the BLM is trying to accomplish.
This is such a huge responsibility for anybody. Trying to open peoples closed minds. Yes you can adopt as many as you want but there is always going to be thousands of horses with no homes, no help, and no future. Why would you want them to suffer more than they would have to?
In my honest opinion this world can afford to lose some of these horses that have no purpose. Also this could open several job opportunities’ if the United States would lift the act protecting these wild horses and burros, the states could open a few slaughter plants and a few training facilities to train and sell some of these horses and burros.
Sell meat, glue, horses, and dog food why would we not want to make more money? Of course the cost of building and running all of these businesses but there’s money everywhere if you know the right people. It is honestly a humane way to keep the historic spirit alive. The majority of mustangs came from the dust bowl era. People couldn’t afford to feed them so they turned them lose.
This process of still turning these horses out is still happening to these animals. There is just not enough homes or love. If you can’t feed them don’t breed them. For a mustang or burro to be sold is if they are an excess animal. If the animal is 10 years or older will be sold without limitation, including through auction to the highest bidder at local sale yards or other livestock selling facilities.
Blow this is the act that was created to protect these wild horses and burros.
The Wild Free roaming Horses and Burros Act (WFRHBA). Est. 1971 this put these horses under jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service (USFS)
The Act:
- Made it a federal crime for anyone to harass or kill “wild” horses or burros on federal land.
- Set the ground work for further studies of the animals’ behavior and habits
- Permitted that public land could be set aside for use as herd management areas.
- Requires that herd management plans “maintain a thriving natural ecological balance among wild horse populations, wild life, livestock and vegetation and to protect the range from the deterioration associated with over population.”
- Allows for public lands to be utilized for multiple purposes while improving the health and stability of “wild” horse and burro populations (Improve Management n.d.)
To hold the 45,000 horses that are in the holding facilities costs the U.S. tax payers nearly 50 million dollars. The Government is seeking to lift the act and take the percentage of wild horses and burros down 70%. With all these horses and nowhere to stock pile them they are damaging the land and our only solution is to kill them or else they might all die if we can grow to proper nutrients to keep them alive.
Every horse needs 3 major things to keep them alive. They need water, food, and space and we are just fresh out of space. They are leaving the deciding to the congressmen in Washington, DC. 84% of trumps supporters voted against the slaughter of these wild horses. Only a slim portion of people are for lifting the act but only because they will benefit from it.
In 2015 sixteen mustangs and 4 men. These horses were trained by these men and they rode them on a 3,000 mile trip. The rode from Mexico to Canada with these sixteen mustangs from the BLM adoption program. They have made a movie about it and it really shows a mustang’s true spirit and tough soul.
Riding through the rain, sun, snow, and cacti. A few mustangs didn’t make it through the whole trip due to unsoundness.To me I believe a mustang is a gorgeous creature, any horse is beautiful! We could have beautiful mustang herds roaming the wild range like they did many years ago.
References
- Bradford, Alina. “Mustangs: Facts About America’s Wild Horses.” LiveScience, Purch, 24 June 2014, www.livescience.com/27686-mustangs.html.\
- Riviera, Gloria, et al. “Wild Horses Facing Slaughter after US Government Proposes New Regulations.” ABC News, ABC News Network, 23 Jan. 2018, abcnews.go.com/US/wild-horses-facing-slaughter-us-government-proposes-regulations/story?id=52538898.
- “Improve Management.” National Horse and Burro Rangeland Management Coalition, www.wildhorserange.org/.
- Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 4 Dec. 2018, www.smithsonianmag.com/.
- “Unbranded.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 9 Oct. 2015, www.imdb.com/title/tt3020666/.
